Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre En Route Queens, NY

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Queens, New York

12:02 P.M. EDT

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right, guys. So much fun. So much memories. Okay, let me just say a couple of things at the top.

So, first, President Biden spoke to Mayor Adams and gave his condolences about the tragic killing of Officer Jonathan Diller. The President offered Mayor Adams, the city of New York, and the New York Police Department his full support in the wake of the tragedy.

And the President also spoke to Hadassah Lieberman to express his condolences to her and her family’s loss.

The President and Senator Lieberman ser- — served together in the U.S. Senate for 20 years. Senator Lieberman was principled, steadfast, and unafraid to stand up for what he thought was right.

And I’ll just say a couple things just about Baltimore and just give you a little of an update.

President Biden continues to lead an all — an all-of-government response to the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Yesterday, he met with Secretary Buttigieg of Transp- — the DOD [DOT] Transportation Secretary and the Coast Guard Vice Admiral Gautier in the Oval Office. He also spoke to Governor Moore, General Spellmon from the Army Corps of Engineers.

As you heard the President say on Tuesday, his administration will — will move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible.

Administration officials have been on the record in Baltimore — on — on the ground, pardon me — on the rec- — on the ground in Baltimore and remain in direct communication with the state and local officials.

Yesterday, the President’s Supply Chain Distribution [Disruptions] Task Force met to discuss potential impacts on regional and national supply chains. They will continue to monitor any new developments and coordinate outreach and efforts to assist impacted industries.

And starting today, the Navy is sending contracted bar- –barge — barges and support vessels to the Port of Baltimore to begin clearing debris. This marks a step forward as we continue to recover to — through the recovery process. We’ll continue to share more in the upcoming days.

With that, ma’am. Colleen.

Q Thank you. So, President Biden will be in New York City for most of the day doing fundraising. Former President Donald Trump is going to the wake of the NYPD officer. I wondered if — you mentioned that the President spoke to Mayor Adams. I wonder if he’d spoken to the family of the officer.

And also, you know, Trump is blaming a lot of crime on Biden. I just wondered if you could speak a little bit about that.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, so — so, I don’t have any private communications to share at this time. Our hearts go out, obviously, to the officer’s family and the broader NYPD family, who have tragically lost one of their own. The President grieves for them and honors their sacrifice.

Look, the President has stood with law enforcement his entire career and continues to stand with them as they put their lives on the line for their communities. Under his leadership, we will continue to support police officers and ensure that they have resources they need to continue — to continue to do the work — the all-important that — work that they have to do on behi- — on behalf of the community.

Look, violent crime — and I’m just going to be really clear about here — I’m going to be careful about saying anything about 2024, but violent crime surged under the previous administration, which repeatedly attempted to cut the COPS program. All of their budgets lar- — targeted that they — that key funding for police. And congressional Republicans just proposed doing it again.

So, this is a President — this Biden-Harris administration have done the polar opposite, taking decisive action from the very beginning to fund the police and achieving a historic reduction in crime under his leadership. And so, we’re going to continue to do that.

One more thing I want to say — that the — the funding — the — because the President’s budget also proposes to fund the police and with billions so federal, state, and local governments can have more — can hire more than 100,000 more officers. And I think that’s important to note as well. I think —

Q Do you have an update on —

Q (Inaudible.)

Q Sorry. Do you have an update on the b- — the bridge funding request, like how much it might be —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — and when that will go before Congress?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I don’t have any update on that. As you heard from the President, we’re going to do everything that we can. The — the gov- — the federal government is going to be there for the city of Baltimore, state of Maryland to make sure that we get that bridge going ba- — built back up.

Obviously, we’re going to ask Congress. We’re expecting Congress to act. I just don’t have anything more to share beyond what you heard from the President and beyond what you heard from Secretary Buttigieg and the Vice Admiral.

Q Does the President plan to attend Senator Lieberman’s funeral tomorrow?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — nothing to share. As you know, he spoke to — he spoke to Senator Lieberman’s widow. I just don’t have anything to share on pri- — on him attending any private ceremony —

Q Can you t- —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — (inaudible) ceremony.

Q Can you tell us what he’s doing this afternoon? There’s a pretty big set of — of unexplained —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — hours on the schedule. (Laughter.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, I — I mean, for sure, this trip, as you know, is a political trip, is a campaign trip. So, I really have to refer you to the campaign.

AIDE: (Inaudible.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you.

And so, just would have to refer you to — to the campaign on that.

Q So, fair to assume it’s all political stuff then?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Okay.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: It is fair to assume.

Q Is the President planning to do an Iftar dinner or Eid celebration with the Muslim community —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, we —

Q — to mark Ramadan?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We have — we have done that the last couple years. We’re committed to doing that. I don’t have anything to share. But obviously, we’ll share any inf- — any updates or events that — that — on the Iftar that, you know, we’ll certainly share that with all of you.

(Referring to Air Force One preparing to land.) I know, I have to sit.

Q Has the President spoken to the families of the two men that were identified from Baltimore yesterday?

AIDE: (Inaudible.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. Yep, no problem.

I don’t have any calls to read out to you. Obviously, you know that Tom Perez was — was there in Baltimore yesterday. And he — as he said in his press conference, he met with the family — some of the families.

Q Thanks, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. Thanks, everybody. We got to sit.

12:08 P.M. EDT